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jazz - where do i start?


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Obviously, my collection is dominated by Miles and Coltrane.

Same here, and I actually have a bunch of other Coltrane that didn't make that list ... though I have to say that (obviously) if someone just focused on them, great as they are, they'd be missing out on a lot.

Not to hijack the thread, but anybody have Coltrane's Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings? I've been resisting the temptation to buy it, but I think I may "need" it. :lol

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Jazz is such a broad genre. You could try out one of the satellite radio services (xm/sirius) and sample their jazz offerings. Unless you can find a bunch of used jazz CDs at a garage sale, that might be an economical way to get exposed to the music.

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Same here, and I actually have a bunch of other Coltrane that didn't make that list ... though I have to say that (obviously) if someone just focused on them, great as they are, they'd be missing out on a lot.

Not to hijack the thread, but anybody have Coltrane's Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings? I've been resisting the temptation to buy it, but I think I may "need" it. :lol

 

Agreed that one should branch out from Miles and Trane pretty quickly before buying their entire back catalog (like that's even possible).

 

Re VV, I have it and love it but whether you need it depends on whether you have the original, i.e. the "incomplete" version. It's a chunk of money but I've seen it relatively cheap online.

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Jazz is such a broad genre. You could try out one of the satellite radio services (xm/sirius) and sample their jazz offerings. Unless you can find a bunch of used jazz CDs at a garage sale, that might be an economical way to get exposed to the music.
Really, buy everything used if you can. That way you can take all kinds of chances.

 

Regarding Miles and Trane... sure they are the greatest, but they are not the only game in town, which is why I suggest some comps and some samplers. Most people like us like the modern jazz, either starting with bebop or hard bop or progressive. There is nothing wrong with that, but there are a couple generations of jazz prior to that and even a couple after that. Jazz history is 100 years old and you can hear nearly all of it. Just like none of us would consider only listening to Bob Dylan and the Beatles, people should go beyond Miles and Trane.

 

As for buying the entire catalogue of either Miles or Trane, either proposition would bust you immediately, since both artists catalogues are in the hundreds of albums.

 

LouieB

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As for buying the entire catalogue of either Miles or Trane, either proposition would bust you immediately, since both artists catalogues are in the hundreds of albums.

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I asked about the Village Vanguard (I don't own any of that material). I have a feeling if I buy it used - and cheap - I'll be a happy camper.

Thanks, guys.

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Actually the Village Vanguard material is marvelous...well worth the investment. I am not sure how many CDs it turns out to be, but I have three LP sets of it, two that are doubles, so that is a total of 5 LPs and I bet the CDs include a ton more stuff. What is so interesting about it (aside from the unbelieveable performances by the quartet of course, as I recall it is the quartet and Eric Dolphy on some of it...) is it sounds like the place is half empty. Either that or people are just under-reacting to the whole scene. Hard to tell really.

 

LouieB

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Rahsaan Roland Kirk is a guy that I rarely hear mentioned, but he is unbelievable.

 

Agreed, a great artist. Generally, I prefer his work before he added "Rahsaan". "I Talk With he Spirits" is one of my favorite albums. He only plays flute on that one.

 

Also, a couple people mentioned the Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane album...that is easily one of my all time favorite albums in any genre.

 

Jackie McLean deserves to be mentioned, as well. He recorded tons of excellent albums. I'd proabbly start with his any of his Blue Note releases.

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Rahsaan Roland Kirk is a guy that I rarely hear mentioned, but he is unbelievable.
As I have related many times here, seeing Kirk live is one of the things that turned me on to jazz in the first place. His Atlantic albums after adding Rahsaan are pretty good too.

 

Jackie McLean got a nice thread after his unfortunate passing.

 

LouieB

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Has anyone seen the movie Collateral with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx? If so, do you remember the jazz bar they went to, and the jazz style they were playing there? That's the kind of jazz I want to hear. Any recommendations?
I saw the movie, but can't remember what the music sounded like....

 

edit-I checked the Internet Movie Data Base and I had forgotten that Calexico are the musicians. Is that the scene you mean? I guess there are also some jazz scenes, so it must be more like lounge music.

 

edit two- Here is the listing of musicians, try getting the soundtrack and go from there.

 

LouieB

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You could also just jump right in and get yourself Louie Armstrong's Hot Fives and Sevens recordings or some Jelly Roll Morton and move your way forward chronologically...
Yea...thats a good idea too....(Armstrong and Morton's early recordings were made in Chicago of course...)

 

LouieB

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Maybe, but it still sounds like N'awlins to me. :music

You have a point, but by the time they recorded the sides they are famous for, they were working in Chicago and I guess you could say Chicago sounded alot like New Orleans. Armstrong's major contribution to that sound was breaking away from a strictly ensemble arrangement and playing solos, which is what makes the hot 5s and 7s unique for the time and makes them Chicago rather than New Orleans jazz.

 

What always amazes me about Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers' recordings are how great they sound. Between Morton and the Victor engineers they really knew what they were doing, considering electric recording a new invention in 1926.

 

LouieB

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Kind of Blue - Miles

 

NO QUESTION

 

Also, Time Out by Dave Brubeck - Fantastic!!!!

 

For Jazz Piano - I am a Thelonias Fan, as well as Dr. John Plays Mac Rebenack (mac is his real name)

 

THis is going to sound cheesy - buy for X Mas, buy the Snoopy X Mas cd - it's great jazz

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Once you expand on the traditional great artists that's when you go into the Avant-Garde or Free Jazz. Of course, get Contrane's late work ("Interstellar Space Revisted") some Albert Ayler ("Live at Greenwich Village"), and some Ornette Coleman.

 

Also, can anyone recommend Derek Bailey records because I have "Aida" and it was decent. But I want to hear what he has can do on the electric guitar.

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Once you expand on the traditional great artists that's when you go into the Avant-Garde or Free Jazz. Of course, get Contrane's late work ("Interstellar Space Revisted") some Albert Ayler ("Live at Greenwich Village"), and some Ornette Coleman.

 

Also, can anyone recommend Derek Bailey records because I have "Aida" and it was decent. But I want to hear what he has can do on the electric guitar.

Although it can be hit-or-miss,the post-bop mid-sixties avant-jazz stuff was an amazing experience for me.It's not often i put some on 1st thing out of bed,but....sometimes yes :D

 

The take of Trane doin' 'My Favorite Things' from the Village Vanguard on 5/28/66 is an example of how far out the music was going then from what it was just a couple of years before....you're a good piece into the song before you begin to even vaguely recognize something familiar...the guys are barely even GRAZING the root notes...but it takes you somewhere you never even thought of,& it feels damn good :music

 

Scott

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I have been wanting to get into jazz for awhile, having heard bits here and there that I really liked, but I never knew where to start.

I have an album "Billie Holiday:16 Most Requested Songs" and I absolutely adore it (Miss Brown To You and These Foolish Things are amazing songs), Coltrane's "Sun Ship" and Miles Davis' "Kind Of Blue", and I heard a song by Lena Horne on the radio a while ago that I really liked on a jazz program but I forget the title.

I guess what I am after is some recommendations on the earlier vocal jazz, especially female singers. Any tips would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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I have been wanting to get into jazz for awhile, having heard bits here and there that I really liked, but I never knew where to start.

I have an album "Billie Holiday:16 Most Requested Songs" and I absolutely adore it (Miss Brown To You and These Foolish Things are amazing songs), Coltrane's "Sun Ship" and Miles Davis' "Kind Of Blue", and I heard a song by Lena Horne on the radio a while ago that I really liked on a jazz program but I forget the title.

I guess what I am after is some recommendations on the earlier vocal jazz, especially female singers. Any tips would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

sv_wcb.jpg

One of my favorite albums by, I believe, the greatest of the female vocalists. Accompanied by Clifford Brown, a trumpeter who, before his untimely death, was considered by most to be approaching Miles Davis status.

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I enjoy most 'jazz' from ragtime to bebop to bossa nova. Lists are ok, but for someone who doesn't know what flavor they like, I'd suggest going to the library and borrowing the Jazz documentary series by Ken Burns. It's flawed (highly slanted by Wynton Marsalis' louis-centric gospel), but it covers enough of the important styles and figures to give you a compass. Well, at least up to the first modern jazz movement. Worthwhile viewing.

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